BUCKHANNON — The West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats took on West Virginia State University in a four-game set this past Sunday and Monday, going 1-3. They won game one by a 15-9 score on Sunday but dropped game two, 14-0. On Monday, they lost both games by 7-2 and 9-1 scores.
In game one on Sunday, the Bobcats took a commanding 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to one-run singles from Thatcher Poteat and Josh Ayala and a two-run double from Kohei Fujishita.
Wesleyan continued the damage in the bottom of the second with one-run singles from Cole Shearer and Poteat to make it 6-0.
The Yellow Jackets were able to put up two in the top of the third due to a solo home run from Mike Hubber and a bases loaded walk that scored Connor Fizer.
The Bobcats were quick to get those two runs back in the bottom of the third by letting the defense make the mistakes to make it 8-2.
West Virginia State was then able to hit a solo shot in the top of the fourth by Cody Rinehart to make it 8-3.
Wesleyan then retaliated in the bottom of the fourth with three more runs after Malik Wood smacked a two-run triple and then later scored on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Drag.
The Yellow Jackets mounted a tiny comeback in the top of the fifth with a two-run double from William Glick, a wild pitch that scored Fizer, and a two-run home run from Kyle Waters to make it 11-8.
The Bobcats added some much-needed insurance in the bottom of the fifth and sixth inning with an RBI from Ayala and Poteat, and a two-run single from Devin Johnson to make it 15-8.
After a solo home run in the top of the seventh from Chris Morris, West Virginia State’s comeback dreams were diminished as the Bobcats took the first game by a score of 15-9.
Alex Hernandez got the win for the Bobcats and Ayden Hodges got the loss for West Virginia State.
The Yellow Jackets got revenge in game two as they put up 14 runs off 10 hits with four of the hits being a grand slam from Hubber, a three-run home run from Morris, and two solo home runs from Waters and Nathan Paulsen.
The Bobcats were left scoreless through seven innings and were only able to come up with four hits with all of them being singles. The final score was 14-0.
Broderick Rohrbaugh got the loss for Wesleyan and Morris got the win for State.
Game three was a closer contest for the Bobcats as they took the lead in the bottom of the fourth after being down 1-0 with one-run singles from Jack Tilton and Drag to make it 2-1.
The top of the fifth is when the wheels fell off for Wesleyan as the Yellow Jackets put up six runs and kept the Bobcats scoreless for the rest of the game to win 7-2.
Anthony Hernandez got the loss for Wesleyan and Colin Bryant got the win for the Yellow Jackets.
In the last game of the series, Wesleyan could not figure it out as the Bobcats only scored one run off six hits with the one run being in the last inning of the game thanks to a one-run single from Johnson.
West Virginia State was kept silent up until the last three innings of the game as they were able to put up nine runs with a total of 13 hits through the whole game and win the final game of the series 9-1.
Hunter Eplin got the loss for Wesleyan and Chase Norris got the win while throwing a complete game for the Yellow Jackets.
The Bobcats now move to 10-18 on the season and 5-9 in conference play. Its next opportunity for redemption is a four-game series against Concord University on Saturday, Apr. 13 and Sunday, Apr. 14. Both doubleheaders begin at 1 p.m.
